RCTA Milton Keynes August BH Floating Market
IWA Canalway Cavalcade 2025 - Dates/Times TBC
The Batchworth Rally
2025 Waterways Festival Foxton & Market Harborough
Middlewich Folk & Boat 2025
Linslade Canal Festival 2025
Brownhills Canal Festival 2025
Black Country Boating Festival 2025
Useful Information
Things you can do to get yourself out there!
- Get yourself listed in the Traders’ Directory on the RCTA website. You use the email you gave us when you joined to log in to access the members area of the RCTA website here. If you don’t know your password, click on Forgot Password and you will be sent a new one. Once logged in, you can add your business details to the RCTA Traders’ Directory, including photos, contact details and discount you offer. If you need any help or advice with this, please email our volunteers on canaltraders@outlook.com, and we will help you as needed.
- Join the RCTA members only Facebook group. This group is where our members and volunteers discuss ideas, ask questions, and advice of other members away from the public forums. We exchange hints and tips and get advise from each other on the day to day problems that we all encounter. The Steering Group also post updates and relevant information for members here. Click on the link and ask to join: Members Only Facebook Group.
- Follow @canaltraders on Twitter and Instagram. Follow us and see all the news and posts from the RCTA Facebook Page and other traders on the cut and all things canal related. Plus, when you tweet we, and other members, will re-tweet you. Use our ‘hashtags’ – #buyitoffaboat; #canaltraders to increase your reach.
- Join #buyitoffaboat shop. Our online shopfront for members only to sell, but open to everyone to buy. Put a price, a picture and description and let new customers get to know you. Click here to join. If you would like more information about the shop and the #tag, click here.
Let folk know when you are in their area!
County specific Facebook Pages
A lot of traders use Facebook as a free way of advertising their products and services. Finding the right audience can be difficult, especially if you travel around the network a lot. To help you to advertise your whereabouts out to the right audience, RCTA have created County Facebook Pages for you to post your whereabouts on.
- Hertfordshire Canal Traders
- Staffordshire Canal Traders
- Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire & Buckinghamshire Canal Traders
- Cheshire Canal Traders
- Lancashire & Yorkshire Canal Traders
- Shropshire Canal Traders
- Derbyshire & Leicester Canal Traders
- London Canal Traders
Canal Traders News: https://www.facebook.com/canaltraders/
Floating Traders: www.facebook.com/groups/1094209830611901
Narrowboat Traders Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1906626009593642/
Get yourself booked in at Events!
If you click on the RCTA Markets, Festivals & Events Page, you will find a comprehensive list that is kept as up to date as possible by our volunteers and can be a good resource for you to find events to trade at. We also organise markets, where our members get priority booking! RCTA Floating Markets are organised to give our members trading opportunities, to raise the profile and public awareness of Roving Canal Traders, and of the canals as a whole. Market dates and locations are published on our website as soon as confirmed, and all members are involved in deciding which areas will have Floating Markets the year prior to the arrangements being made. Members will be informed when these can be booked.
You can also take a look at Canal & River Trust’s events page, and the Inland Waterways Association events page.
RCTA are happy to help any new traders so, if you find yourself stuck or in need of assistance, just email canaltraders@outlook.com with details of your query and our New Traders’ Liaison will be there to support you.
Familiarise yourself with the rules on trading.
Following a meeting between the RCTA and CRT, trading on visitor moorings on weekends and on Bank Holiday weekends was discussed. The RCTA raised that they were concerned that if adhering the 48 hour/2 day visitor mooring rule it would mean that authorised trading craft would not be able to trade fully on weekends/Bank Holidays.
With this in mind we have agreed that on weekends/Bank Holiday only authorised traders on a visitor mooring will be allowed to :-
At weekends
- Friday – Arrive at Visitor Mooring
- Saturday – Trade
- Sunday – Trade
- Monday am – Leave the Visitor Mooring
At Bank Holiday weekends
- Friday – Arrive at Visitor Mooring
- Saturday – Trade
- Sunday – Trade
- Monday – Trade
- Tuesday am – Leave the Visitor Mooring
On the Easter Bank Holiday weekend, trade boats may arrive on Thursday and leave on Tuesday.
The Trust will ensure that their enforcement team and boating coordinators are aware of this agreement to ensure that trade boats do not receive extended stay charges on bank holidays.
Winter moorings
It has been agreed that in line with Planning Regulations also referred to as the ‘28 day rule’, we will allow compliant authorised business licence holders who secure a winter mooring to :
- trade for 28 consecutive days
- trade for 28 individual days over the period of the secured mooring.
For example: If a winter mooring is secured for one month only, an authorised trader could trade from that mooring for 28 consecutive days, after which no further trading would be allowed to take place. If a winter mooring is secured a longer period, then a trader could trade for a block of 28 days, or a total of 28 days spread over the period.
To enable us to monitor the situation and ensure that all traders are adhering to the 28 day rule, we will ask for a declaration to be made by each trader that they will adhere to the planning regulations for trading. See the details on the CRT webpage covering trading.
Volunteer!
We are always looking for more volunteers to help out with the general day to day running of the RCTA and the markets we organise. It doesn’t matter if you are an old seasoned trader, or a complete newbie. If you have time and enthusiasm that you can offer to help out, we would love to hear from you.
We are always looking for volunteers with local knowledge to help promote our Floating Markets, by way of such things as leaflet distribution, media contacts, local sponsors, and advertising in local social media outlets.
If you have a specific skill that you think may be of benefit to the RCTA that you’re willing to offer, please get in touch. We would love to hear from you!!
Data Protection note:
Sometimes we will use your photos or videos to promote the Association or your business. Please ensure that you read our Data Protection Policy, and have consented in the appropriate box on the profile page.
